I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8837 

To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop celestial time standardization to support future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other celestial 

bodies other than Earth, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2024 

Ms. MCCLELLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration to develop celestial time standardization to support future operations and infrastructure on and around the Moon and other celestial bodies 

other than Earth, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Celestial Time Stand5 ardization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CELESTIAL TIME STANDARDIZATION. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) United States leadership of a sustained 

5 presence on the Moon and in deep space exploration 

6 is important for advancing science, exploration, com7 mercial growth, and international partnership; 

8 (2) the Artemis and Moon to Mars program of 

9 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

10 (NASA) will involve governmental, commercial, aca11 demic, and international partners where there is a 

12 need for interoperability between systems; 

13 (3) the use of Coordinated Universal Time has 

14 challenges when used beyond Earth at other celestial 

15 bodies, due to relativistic effects; 

16 (4) the United States should lead in developing 

17 time standardization for the Moon and other celes18 tial bodies other than Earth to support interoper19 ability and safe and sustainable operations; and 

20 (5) development of such standardization will ad21 vance United States leadership in standards setting 

22 for global competitiveness, and will benefit other 

23 spacefaring countries and entities. 

24 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF CELESTIAL TIME STANDARD25 IZATION.—The Administrator of NASA, in consultation 


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1 with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

2 Policy, shall carry out the following: 

3 (1) Enable the development of celestial time 

4 standardization, including by leading the study and 

5 definition of a coordinated lunar time. 

6 (2) Develop a strategy to implement a coordi7 nated lunar time that would support future oper8 ations and infrastructure on and around the Moon. 

9 (3) In carrying out paragraphs (1) and (2)— 

10 (A) coordinate with relevant Federal enti11 ties, including the Department of Commerce, 

12 the Department of Defense, the Department of 

13 State, and the Department of Transportation; 

14 and 

15 (B) consult with— 

16 (i) relevant private sector entities; 

17 (ii) relevant academic entities; and 

18 (iii) relevant international standards 

19 setting bodies. 

20 (4) Incorporate the following features of a co21 ordinated lunar time, to the extent practicable, in 

22 the development of the strategy developed pursuant 

23 to paragraph (2): 

24 (A) Traceability to Coordinated Universal 

25 Time. 


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1 (B) Accuracy sufficient to support preci2 sion navigation and science. 

3 (C) Resilience to loss of contact with 

4 Earth. 

5 (D) Scalability to space environments be6 yond the Earth-Moon system. 

7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of NASA 

9 shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

10 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

12 Senate a report describing the strategy developed pursu13 ant to subsection (b)(2), including relevant plans, 

14 timelines, and resources required for the implementation 

15 of a coordinated lunar time pursuant to such strategy. 

Æ 


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